Old bushfire video misrepresented as recent blaze in Israel

Published on May 8, 2025 at 05:48
2 min read
By Chayanit ITTHIPONGMAETEE, AFP Thailand

As a massive fire near Jerusalem in late April 2025 prompted evacuations and firefighting operations by Israeli authorities, social media users shared an old clip falsely claiming it showed the bushfire. It was actually filmed in 2021.

"The Israeli army ordered all forces, including the air forces and armed forces, to extinguish the fire. It must be burning heavily right now," reads a Thai-language Facebook post published April 30, 2025.

The post shares a five-second clip showing thick smoke and large flames engulfing a hillside forest.

Screenshot of the false Facebook post taken May 6, 2025

The false claim surfaced after a wildfire broke out April 30 and prompted the defence minister to declare the situation a "national emergency" (archived link).

Another bushfire broke out a week earlier, but it was contained within 20 hours and no casualties were reported (archived link).

The false clip spread elsewhere on Facebook in Thai and Burmese. News outlets such as Al Jazeera and CNN also used the video in their reports, mixed with genuine footage from the recent fire.

Some social media users appeared to believe the video shows the blaze.

"Fire this strong should only take a few days to burn all over Israel," one comment reads.

Another user wrote: "Recently, the fire has spread to the Israeli military camp. They were about to taste the burn."

However, a reverse image search using keyframes revealed the Israel Fire and Rescue Authority published the clip June 9, 2021 on Facebook (archived link).

The Hebrew-language caption says multiple firefighting teams and aircraft battled a spreading wildfire near Neve Ilan in central Israel. The blaze prompted evacuations as authorities worked to stop the flames from reaching nearby houses.

Screenshot comparison between the video in the false post (L) and the original clip published by Israel Fire and Rescue Services in 2021

The Jerusalem Post also used the video in a June 10, 2021 report, saying a dozen aircraft and more than 70 firefighting teams were deployed to extinguish the flames (archived link).

AFP has debunked other misinformation related to the April 2025 Israel wildfires.

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